Method and apparatus for automatically shuffling and cutting cards and conveying shuffled cards to a card dispensing shoe while permitting the simultaneous performance of the card dispensing operation
First Claim
1. Shuffling apparatus for mixing a plurality of playing cards comprising:
- elevator means for receiving a stack of playing cards;
a shuffling station positioned above said elevator means;
first and second card receiving means positioned on opposite sides of said shuffling station;
means for moving said elevator means toward said shuffling station;
shuffling means arranged at said shuffling location for randomly feeding cards delivered to said shuffling means by said elevator means to said first and second card receiving means.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Method and appratus for automatically shuffling, cutting and delivering shuffled playing cards to a shoe without interfering with dispensing of playing cards from the shoe. The transparent covers, together with the design of the mechanism, permits observation by the players of the playing cards at all times throughout the shuffling, cutting and card delivery operations. The cards are randomly mixed by separation and subsequent merger. Cards are automatically fed to the shuffling mechanism by a drive motor. Cards are delivered to the card dealing shoe by an advancing member. A separation paddle acts as a barrier between the playing cards already in the shoe and the playing cards being delivered to the shoe. Upon completion of the delivery operation, the paddle is removed and placed at the end of the stack of cards. A jogging mechanism assures uniform stacking of the playing cards. The shuffling, stacking and jogging operations do not conflict with the dispensing of playing cards from the shoe.
371 Citations
37 Claims
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1. Shuffling apparatus for mixing a plurality of playing cards comprising:
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elevator means for receiving a stack of playing cards; a shuffling station positioned above said elevator means; first and second card receiving means positioned on opposite sides of said shuffling station; means for moving said elevator means toward said shuffling station; shuffling means arranged at said shuffling location for randomly feeding cards delivered to said shuffling means by said elevator means to said first and second card receiving means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. Shuffling apparatus for playing cards comprising:
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a housing; shuffling means in said housing; elevator means in said housing for delivering playing cards to said shuffling means; a closure member movable between a first position unsealing an opening in said housing and a second position sealing said opening; said elevator means being positioned adjacent to said opening; playing card transfer means positioned adjacent to said housing and including a playing card holder movable from a first position outside of said housing and through said opening to a second position inside said housing and above said elevator means; means responsive to the deposit of playing cards upon said holder for moving said closure member to said first position; means responsive to movement of said closure member to said first position for moving said holder to said second position and thereafter to said first position causing playing cards on said holder to be transferred to said elevator means; means responsive to movement of said holder to said first position for moving said closure means to said second position; and means responsive to movement of said closure means to said second position for moving said elevator means to deliver the playing cards on said elevator means to said shuffling means. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. Apparatus for delivering playing cards to a card dealing shoe having a diagonally aligned hollow card chute, with a rear open end for receiving playing cards, and delivering to the playing cards a forward card dispensing end, comprising:
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shuffling means for shuffling said playing cards; elevator means for supporting a stack of shuffled playing cards received from said shuffling means in a horizontal position; means for moving said elevator means in a downward direction; means for tilting said stack of playing cards to assume a diagonal orientation from said horizontal position as the elevator means passes a predetermined location; swingable guide means swingable about pivot means from a first substantially vertical position to a second diagonally aligned position whereby the free end of said swingable guide means moves from a position substantially vertically above said pivot means to a second position adjacent the open rear end of said chute; said swingable guide means having a guide surface extending diagonally downwardly from said tilting means toward said chute open rear end to whereby the stack of playing cards tilted by said tilting means slides along said guide surface diagonally downwardly and on to said chute through said rear open end. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. Apparatus for delivering cards from a receiving station to a card shoe comprising:
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guide means having a diagonally aligned guiding surface for moving cards from said card receiving means toward said card shoe, the region behind the card shoe being a card receiving region; tilt means at the upper end of said guide means for tilting the cards from a horizontal orientation to a diagonal orientation as cards are lowered onto said guide means; means for moving said tilt means to push said tilted cards along said guide means and into said card receiving region said shoe; paddle means including a paddle for resting against the cards when in the card receiving region; said paddle means further including means for lifting said paddle upwardly and away from said card receiving region when moved in a first direction and downwardly and into the card receiving region cards when moved in a second direction; means for moving said paddle means in a rearward direction away from said card shoe and a forward direction toward said card shoe; control means for operating said moving means to move said paddle means upwardly and away from said guide means as cards are being pushed on said guide means by said tilting means; and said control means further comprising operating said moving means for lowering said paddle toward said guide means and for moving said paddle means in a forward direction toward said shoe to maintain the cards pushed into said card shoe in close engagement. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. A method for shuffling and cutting cards comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a card receiving station, movable elevator means and a movable door arranged between said card receiving station and said elevator means; (b) providing a pusher for pushing cards deposited on the card receiving station towards said elevator means; (c) opening said door when said pusher is in a position displaced from the card receiving station to permit cards to be placed thereon; (d) lifting the elevator means so that it is substantially aligned with said card receiving station in order to enable cards to be pushed directly onto the elevator means; (e) lowering the elevator means by an amount sufficient to align the cards deposited thereon with the card receiving station to receive a subsequent stack of cards; (f) closing the door; (g) moving the elevator means upwardly toward shuffling means comprised of a pair of rollers; (h) rotating said rollers and reciprocating the pair of rotating rollers in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the elevator means causing cards engaging said rollers to be advanced in a leftward and rightward direction on opposite sides of the elevator means toward card receiving locations, said cards being removed from said stack by said roller means in a random fashion; (i) lowering the elevator means to a position to receive cards arranged in said lefthand and righthand card receiving regions; and (j) pushing the cards from said card receiving regions onto said elevator means in a random fashion. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method for shuffling and cutting cards through the utilization of a movable elevator means, a roller assembly including a pair of rollers and pusher means for cutting cards, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) aligning the elevator means with a card loading station for receiving cards; (b) lowering the elevator means upon receipt of the cards so that the top of the stack of cards is aligned with the card receiving means; (c) moving the elevator means a fixed distance at a first high speed rate upwardly toward said roller means which are arrange at a spaced distance above the height of the card receiving location to move the top of the stack of cards just below the roller means; (d) reducing the rate of movement of said elevator means when said elevator means has moved said fixed distance; and (e) rotating said rollers in first and second opposing directions and reciprocating the roller assembly back-and-forth along a path which is transverse to the longitudinal axis of the elevator means for delivering cards to the left and to the right of said elevator means and into said first and second card receiving regions whereby the number of cards delivered in the leftward and rightward direction and the order of delivery is random. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37)
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Specification